


Inevitability

by TeraKaren



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Genre: F/M, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Triad Verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-15
Updated: 2016-03-15
Packaged: 2018-05-26 19:38:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,597
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6252901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeraKaren/pseuds/TeraKaren
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Triad Verse AU. Several weeks after the end of the 74th Hunger Games, the victors from District 12 sit down for an interview and Peeta throws Katniss's world for a loop yet again, but why is he doing it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Inevitability

**Author's Note:**

> This is a Triad Verse AU. Triad verse is where triads are the norm instead of couples. For instance, a three parent household is traditional to raise a child in. This is part of [Triad Verse Week](http://triadverse.tumblr.com/post/139327137749/the-votes-are-in-and-triad-verse-week-will-be).
> 
> Also, my first Hunger Games fanfic :)  
> I had no beta so absolutely check me on my mistakes.

“So, does the hottest couple in Panem have someone special in their lives?” the interviewer from the Capital asked as if they had some great secret and she was promising to keep it, which was so ridiculous since this was being broadcast to all of Panem.

I glanced at Peeta because he’s the one who answered this question before, after the Games, when Caesar Flickerman had asked a near identical question. Peeta had said something about them being enough for right now in that convincing way Peeta always managed so easily. I suddenly felt guilt curl up in my chest, the same guilt I’d felt when we'd got off the train in District 12 because Peeta hadn’t just been _convincing_ , he had been completely sincere.

Peeta hadn't been speaking to me, though I can't say I’ve made much of an effort to talk to him either. Sometimes he leaves cookies with bright frosting or bread for my family and we'd say a stiff greeting, but nothing more. 

Now his arm was wrapped around me like it was an old habit he never thought to break, and even though we are both acting now, I missed this. I missed Peeta and being close to him like we were in the games. It is so easy to lean into him and pretend like we are a happy couple waiting for our third.

It took me a few moments to realize that Peeta hadn't answered the question. Instead he was silently looking at me. His face was full of admiration, but something about the look in his eye reminded me of when my mother had taken care of a kid too sick to treat with the herbs and tepid water we generously call broth. She could only ease his pain as he slowly died and could only tell his family how long he had left so they could spend time with him before he was gone. It was the plain, horrifying inevitability that always made me crumble, but people like my mother and Prim dealt with head on. I could see the same inevitability as it weighed on my mother then and in Peeta’s eyes now. What was he thinking?

“Ahem,” the interviewer chirped happily into her glittering metallic glove, and it brought me out of my thoughts. I turned to her and saw her coal black lips quirk up in smug satisfaction.

“It would appear that these lovebirds got lost in each other’s eyes, or perhaps thinking of a certain sweetheart?”

“We, uh-” was the most intelligent thing that came out of my mouth. Thank goodness Peeta was much better at this than me and he started talking immediately after my failed attempt at speech.

“You got us Vernetta,” Peeta said, raising both hands up in surrender. He moved the one wrapped around my shoulders in front of him so he could hold my hand in both of his as he grinned excitedly at me. I grinned back and giggled, hoping that it was convincing enough to fool the audience that we were really so in love that we would get lost in each other’s eyes.

“We do have a third. We have for a while now,” Peeta said with absolute adoration as he looked at the interviewer, which I hoped distracted the viewers from my open mouthed idiocy. I was shocked. What was Peeta doing?

The interviewer was beside herself. The hard, scaled outfit she wore clinked as she moved to simultaneously straighten her back and lean closer toward us.

“That is great news! Though I’m sure there are a lot of singles disappointed in missing out on a chance with the victor couple of the the Hunger games. Katniss, you look shocked.” The interviewer turned to me, and I had no idea what to do.

“We hadn’t meant to tell anyone,” Peeta butted in for me and all I could do was look at him. He smiled apologetically at me. “I’m sorry dear, but how could we deprive our wonderful supporters in Panem of our wonderful news?”

I understand that Peeta is playing the part we’d established. We had to keep up appearances while the Capital was watching us, I knew that, but I still had trouble digesting what he was saying. All I could do was nod my head and murmur a “right”. When I didn’t say anything more he continued on, turning his attention back to the interviewer.

“Our third is not fond of attention, and as you can imagine, we get a lot of it in District 12. Katniss is a bit protective of him. They’ve been friends for a long time, you see, and have always looked out for each other. I’m lucky to have them,” He finished self deprecatingly.

I’d felt like the floor had been moved from under me. I only had two friends I had known for a long time and only one of them could be called a “him”.

Gale.

Anyone with eyes in District 12 and a few without would know that Peeta was talking about Gale. Hell, after the interviews of friends and family done while we were in the games, most of Panem must suspect he was talking about Gale.

Gale had been ignoring me for the most part since I’d gotten back from the Games, and we could barely hunt together anymore because he’d started working in the mines. The last time I saw him was when he’d kissed me, which I still didn't know how to feel about. 

I tried to imagine the Capital getting their hands on him like they had Peeta and me, and I felt my blood run cold. Gale, who moved like another limb with me as we hunted, who made my heart sick when I thought of him going into the mine that killed both of our fathers. I imagined the Capital owning him, and suddenly my blood burned with fury toward Peeta. How could he do this to him?

“You heard it here first!” The interviewer yelped excitedly, addressing the audience, “The hottest couple in the hunger games are officially off the market, their hearts stolen close to home. I’m sure everyone out there wants to know, who is this mystery third?”

The interviewer’s eyes reminded me of an hawk that had successfully swooped down and captured its prey, concentrated as it fed its hunger, but I was too angry to do anything but give a nasty grin. Peeta obviously got the hint because he put an infuriatingly calm hand on my shoulder. I nearly sneered at him, but just gritted my teeth more.

“I think I may have said too much. My beloved looks like she is going to skin me alive, and I think we all know that it’s not smart to get on her bad side. I told you she was protective,” he said to the interviewer conspiratorially, and she laughed along with some of the film crew which only made me bite my teeth down harder. “Please give us a few minutes to talk. We’ll be back to answer your questions. Maybe even convince our third to make an appearance.”

The possibility of talking to their _mysterious_ third must have appeased them because the Capital interviewer allowed us a few minutes break. Immediately I was out of my seat and walking away from Victor’s Village.

“Katniss!” I heard Peeta call behind me, but I was so mad at him even his voice grated on my nerves.

“Katniss!” This time he’d gotten close enough to grab my arm, and turned me around to face him. He looked upset himself, but I didn’t care.

“How could you?” I yelled at him, glad to get it out, “How could you do this to him?”

Peeta waved his arms, gesturing for me to calm down or lower my voice, but I physically couldn’t. Not with what he had done. “No, Katniss. Listen-”

“Listen? You know what they do Peeta! What they’ll do to him! Gale doesn’t deserve that!”

Peeta moved quicker than I remember him being and actually put his hand over my mouth, which startled me enough to distract from my anger for a second.

“Katniss,” he said low and serious, “Don’t say that so loudly. They’re still listening. We have to play this smart for everyone’s sake.”

I stared at him, but didn’t disagree. He was right. The two of them had already humiliated the Capital in the Games. They couldn’t afford to speak out against the Capital at all. I had forgotten that in my anger and had screwed up. I looked around to see if a Peacekeeper or anyone from the Capital was around. I didn’t see anyone, but that didn’t mean they hadn’t heard.

I brought my eyes back to meet Peeta's, spoke a muffled “Okay” against his hand and nodded my understanding at him. He moved his hand cautiously away and looked defensive, as if he expected me to yell at him again. I settled for glaring at him instead. I still needed answers.

“What are you doing Peeta? Why are you involving Gale in this?” There had to be a reason. Peeta always had a reason for what he said to the Capital. He wouldn’t intentionally hurt Gale, I knew that, but he had anyway and that was hard to forgive, even for Peeta.

Peeta looked around cautiously and held out his arm to me, putting on a nervous smile for anyone watching. “Walk with me.”

I put my arm in his and matched his pace as we walked along the edge of the Seam, knowing the drill. We’d done this before with Haymitch when we needed to discuss something about the Capital. 

“I got a visit from President Snow,” Peeta said in the same low voice he’d used earlier, but that didn’t stop me from freezing in place from shock. It took me a moment to realize that Peeta was tugging on my arm, urging me to keep moving and after a shaking exhale I moved my feet forward.

“I know. I wasn’t exactly expecting him to show up in my home either,” Peeta said sarcastically. My arm tightened around Peeta’s, suddenly afraid that he was going to disappear, as if the mere presence of President Snow had poisoned him somehow. It was irrational, but the man’s cold gaze never left me, even so long after the Games.

“Well what happened?” I asked eagerly. Peeta lowered his head as if unable to stand the weight.

“He- he told me that we needed to be convincing, that what we did in the Games caused chaos in the other Districts, and it was our responsibility to fix it. That if we weren’t convincing with our relationship that he would-,” he paused a second, his voice catching, “that he would kill the people we care about. My brothers, my father and mother, Prim, your mother, Haymitch, Madge, Gale, his family, the people at the Hob. Everyone. They’re all in danger unless we convince them that we are madly in love and committed and that's why we did what we did during the Games. That means finding a third.”

Peeta wouldn’t meet my eyes, but we had both stopped walking this time. I felt dizzy. I always suspected that Snow had seen through our lie, but I had hoped that it had been good enough for him. We would never be free, I knew that, but now everyone, even Prim, were in danger because of me, and I could barely stand myself for doing that to them. That didn’t answer everything though.

“But why Gale?” I whispered, too lost to say much else. I had just found out that I had already put Gale in danger from the Capital, so it didn’t feel right to continue to be mad at Peeta for that. The berries had been my idea. Everyone was in danger because of me.

Peeta looked up at me for a second with a strange expression that I didn't understand then immediately looked down again. “Snow showed me a photo of you two kissing in the woods and he told me to do something about it because we had to be convincing. It was obvious what he wanted. I don’t know how to tell Gale, but I know he’d want to do what he could to protect his family.”

I was stunned and scared and so very helpless. The woods were where I felt free, where the strongest memories of one of my father’s was. I felt so exposed knowing that the Capital had been watching us, that _Snow_ had been watching.

And there was Peeta, barely holding it together. I didn’t know what to tell Gale either, but Peeta was right. He would do anything to protect his family. I was sure he would agree, but him likely agreeing to it didn't help the guilt I felt about this. He didn’t deserve getting caught up in our lie because of _my_ actions. It was bad enough with Peeta, having to keep up this charade and hurt him while he had real feelings for me. I wanted to protect them both, but I couldn’t. Plain, horrifying inevitability.

Peeta didn’t look like he was faring any better than me. With the arm I had already wrapped around his, I took his hand in mine and held strong. We were a team once, and we could be again. I would always protect him. I owed him that tenfold.

“We’ll tell him together, okay,” I said as softly as I could manage through the uneasy feeling that wouldn’t leave me. Peeta nodded at that, but didn’t look up.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. He’s not going to like it, but he’ll go along with it. I know he will,” I tried to reassure him and he did finally look up so it must have worked, thank goodness.

"He's going to hate me." Peeta said so softly it made something in my chest ache.

"He'll understand what has to be done," I said with all the conviction I could muster, which I realize isn't the most reassuring answer, but it's as positive as I can be without lying to Peeta. Peeta just looked at me wearily. 

“And what about you?” He asked, a strangely intense curiosity in his eyes.

“What about me?”

“Are you okay?”

“No,” I answered honestly, because how could I be? How would anything be close to okay ever again?

“Yeah, me too,” he said with a chuckle that seemed to lack any cheer.

“Okay then, at least we’re all agreed on that.”

“Right, agreed,” he said, somehow able to sound less awkward than me, “we better get back to the interview before they come track us down.”

“Yeah,” was all I could manage because my loved ones were being threatened, we had President Snow personally watching us, and my fake relationship with Peeta now included my best friend who barely talked to me and had no clue he was dating us. It was a lot to take in and push aside to be District 12's star crossed lovers

“Hey, we’ll do this together, okay?” Peeta said, giving my hand a squeeze which gave me some comfort. I smiled at him, glad to have Peeta there. I dreaded telling Gale, though a part of me was glad that if it had to be someone, it was someone I enjoyed being around, and I couldn't help but feel comforted that I'd be able to have both Peeta and Gale nearby. Even if it was mostly an act.

**Author's Note:**

> I may write more. Sorry for the lack of Gale. I meant to actually get to the Gale part, but I got the dates wrong for Triad Verse Week and only had time to write this today. I didn't want to miss the deadline! I hope it was still enjoyable.


End file.
